As one of the self-luminous type flat panel displays (FPD), an image display device using an extremely small and integratable cold cathode type thin film electron source (field emission display: FED) has been developed. The thin film electron sources of this type of image display device are classified into a field emission type electron source and a hot electron type electron source. The former includes a spindt type electron source, a surface conduction type electron source, and a carbon nano-tube type electron source, while the latter includes thin film electron sources of an MIM (Metal-Insulator-Metal) type formed by laminating a metal layer, an insulator layer, and a metal layer, an MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) type formed by laminating a metal layer, an insulator layer, and a semiconductor layer, an Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor-Metal type, and the like.
The MIM type thin film electron source is described, for example, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, and as for the Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor type, an MOS type is described in non-Patent Document 1, and as for the Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor-Metal type, a HEED type is described in non-Patent Document 2, and the like. Moreover, an EL type is described in non-Patent Document 3 and the like, and a porous silicon type is described in non-Patent Document 4 and the like.
(Patent Document 1) JP-A-7-65710
(Patent Document 2) JP-A-10-153979
(Patent Document 3) JP-A-2007-19038
(Non-Patent Document 1) J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B11 (2), pp. 429-432 (1993)
(Non-Patent Document 2) Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. vol. 36, (1997), pp. 939-941
(Non-Patent Document 3) Applied Physics, vol. 63, No. 6, 1994, pp. 592-595
(Non-Patent Document 4) Applied Physics, vol. 66, No. 5, 1997, pp. 437-443